


Dean, Are You Doing Okay?

by SomeoneOnThisWorld



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, I'm Sorry Dean, M/M, Sassy Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-03-31 04:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3964579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeoneOnThisWorld/pseuds/SomeoneOnThisWorld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel hated Dean Winchester – he was arrogant, careless and not to mention so full of himself that he could fill an entire classroom with just his ego. It was just his luck he shared most of his classes with that insufferable boy, who always seemed to arrive late to class with a cocky smile and a wink sent Castiel's way, and pretended he didn't know stuff he was actually amazing at. Not that he was even in class a lot – he just came and went, usually with a pass to the bathroom or another excuse to leave.</p><p>Castiel hated Dean Winchester. Which meant he never meant to get to know him as well as he did. Not at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Saddest People Laugh The Loudest

**Author's Note:**

> Strongly based on the song Kristy, Are You Doing Okay? by the Offspring and it's official video. Therefore, the only thing that is mine are the words I use to write this – not the main story, nor the characters. Even the quote in the begining isn't mine – I filed it under unknown because I don't really know who said it. I just saw it on the internet and thought it was suitable.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the fic! The updates might be a little slow, though, sorry about that. I'll try to be quick, but I have a ton of exams this week and the next one, and I used up one day of studying to write this already (that's what I get for procrastinating!)
> 
> (also, sorry for any gramatical mistakes! I'm too lazy to edit it right now)

_The people with the saddest hearts are the ones who laugh the loudest and smile the brightest._

_It's because they don't want you to worry and don't want to hear the words, "Are you okay?"_

_Because they're not._

_-unknown_

* * *

 

 

Dean Winchester's booming laughter filled up the entire classroom, making Castiel roll his eyes. He glanced at the boy he tried so hard to ignore and saw him sitting in his seat, one leg draped over his desk, and talking with his best friends – Benny Lafitte and Victor Henriksen. Victor was takling about some crazy story, gesturing widely as he did so.

 _Stupid neandarthals_ , Castiel thought and turned his attention back to Charlie, his best and probably only friend in the entire school.

"You should really stop trying so hard to dislike him," she told him when she noticed his attention was on the blond boy. "He's really not that bad, no matter what you think."

"Yes, he's just a ray of sunshine, and a god to us mere mortals," Castiel bit back sarcastically. "We should all bow down to his glory."

Charlie laughed.

"That's the spirit!" she winked and tunred around in her seat when the teacher walked in, starting the lecture. Castiel risked another glance at his mrotal enemy, as Charlie usually called him jokingly. He got quieter after his friends left him to go to the other end of the classroom, but no less arrogant. His leg was still draped over the table, despite the teacher's glare when she started the lesson. His notebooks were all closed up and he was flipping through his copy of Romeo And Juliet without much attention.

It was just a miracle he actually was in class. He usually skipped English, or was at least late or had to go to the toilet. Just like in arts, gym class, biology, trigonometry, and Latin. He was pretty sure the teachers had long since realized his bladder couldn't hold that much fluid and his excuses only got stupider and stupider with each passing day, but they let him off the hook every time for some reason.

No, not for just some reason – because he was loved and respected by not only his fellow students, but the teachers as well. He also managed to talk them into letting him pass all of his classes, even if he should have been failing most of them. Somehow he always seemed to squeak by with a D or even a C- if the class was interesting enough for him to listen.

Either way, he was way to babied in Castiel's opinion.

He rolled his eyes and started paying attention to the conflicted and tragic and beautiful love story that was Romeo and Juliet.

Beautiful love story, his ass. Much like Dean Winchester, the hormonal teenagers who couldn't keep it in their pants and ultimately killed themselves, all in the whirlwind of countless unappreciated dick jokes, were too romanticized in his opinion, but he didn't comment on it – not since Mr Cain sent him off to detention when he complained about the lack of female authors in their education system.

Talking back at the teacher, the detention note had said. So maybe he was a bit mouthy, but it had been a bad day for him, since he spent the previous night as a shoulder to cry on for his sister Anna who got stood up – by no other than Dean Winchester. Of fucking course. It always seemed to come back at him.

Maybe it was becuase of Anna that he hated him. Or maybe because he made his younger sister Hannah cry when he snapped at her as she tried to sell him cookies for charity. And he broke Charlie's nose in gym class the previous year – that was an accident during a vicious dodge ball game, but he was no less furious about it.

Castiel sighed. Being stuck around girls that got hurt by Dean Winchester didn't exactly help with trying to like him, like Charlie was pestering him to do ever since the guy physically carried her to the school nurse after the dodge ball incident.

The bell rang, shaking Castiel out of his thoughts. He looked at his nearly blank page in the notebook, realizing he hadn't managed to write a single thing. Becuase he spent the time thinking about Dean Winchester. Again.

It was another reason why Castiel hated him. He always seemed to find his way into his thoughts, no matter how unwelcome he was there. It was infuriating.

Charlie dragged him to cafeteria, chatting about the new Avengers movie that she had just seen, and of course about Scarlett Johanson, the love of her life. Castiel smiled politely and nodded at appropriate times, even though he couldn't exactly follow her excited chatter. Something about Hulk and forced romance, and some kind of vision of the movie and robots and Quick Silver.

"Wait, wasn't Quick Silver in the X-Men?" he asked, because he knew she loved it when he pretended to show interest in the pop culture that was so foreign to him.

"Yeah, it was," Charlie said, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree when they entered the cafeteria and got in line for food. "He's one of the rare characters that has two cinematic homes."

"Two what?"

"You know, like the upcoming movie Batman Vs Superman."

"No, I don't know."

"You're hopeless."

"That I do know," Castiel laughed and Charlie joined in as they slowly picked out their meals and walked to seat next to Anna and Hannah, Castiel's younger sisters. They were twins and practically inseperable, but thankfully it was easy to seperate them, seeing as they weren't identical. They were both beautiful, with sharp cheekbones and pointy noses and timid smiles, but that was the general Novak physical trade. Castiel felt a little proud to at least share his face with them, even if all of their personalities clashed – Castiel was an introverted sarcastic asshole, Hannah a timid and always positive ray of sunshine, and Anna was an outgoing party queen with secretive smiles and somewhat of a rebel, even if Castiel wasn't far behind. But instead of dying his hair in a wild red color like Anna, he subtly got a few tattooes their parents didn't know about.

"What's up, bitches?" Charlie asked cheerfully as she sat down next to Anna, eternally happy to sit next to the only other redhead in the school. Hannah blushed at the rude word, but that was just how she was.

"Nothing much," she said with her usual timid smile, while Anna smirked.

"Well, your personal Scar Jo just came to view, so that's something," she said, nodding towards the entrance of the cafeteria. Castiel didn't have to turn around to know who was sitting behind him – Jo Harvelle, the woman of Charlie's dreams. Apparently she looked kind of like Charlie's favorite actress, even if Castiel never saw the similarity. Either way, Charlie was smitten – and yes, a lesbian, but those news were so old that most people didn't care for anymore.

"My queen," Charlie sighed wistully, staring behind Castiel with heart eyes. "Why does she have to be so pretty? It's such a waste for someone straight to be this hot."

"How do you know she's straight?" Hannah asked. "You can't just assume that in people."

"Hey, don't give me the heteronormativity talk, Novak, I taught it to you," Charlie warned her with a warm smile.

"Yeah, and outted me in the process," Castiel mumbled as he sipped his coke and shot a glare at her. Charlie smiled apologetically, but Anna thankfully came to her rescue.

"Don't worry, Cas, we were pretty sure you were gay before," she said. "They way you can't help but check out Dean's ass ... I mean, I can't blame you, but you were never exactly subtle about it."

"I don't check out Dean Winchester's ass," Castiel hissed. He opened his mouth to once again give his sister the talk about how irritating the guy was, when a voice behind him cut him off.

"I wouldn't blame ya if you did. I know for a fact it's worth looking at."

Before Castiel had the chance to feel embarrassed (or angry, he didn't know), a large body mass slid down in the chair next to his and Dean's cocky smile came to view before he even turned around to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Castiel asked him coldly.

"Hey, I mean no trouble," Dean laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender. "I just thought I'd spend some time with my gay group."

" _Your_ gay group?" Castiel asked, squinting at the taller boy in the process. Dean chuckled.

"You're cute when you do that," he commented and held up a hand. "Dean Winchester, self proclaimed bisexual."

Castiel looked at the hand, but made no move to shake it. He looked back at Dean.

"Bisexual?"

"From the bottom to the top – pun intended," Dean grinned, earning a giggle from other girls. Castiel remained unimpressed.

"Very mature," he rolled his eyes and started his meal. Dean turned around and waved at someone behind them. Judging by the immediate blush on Charlie and Anna's faces, he called out to his group.

Perfect. Just perfect.

"Hey, guys," Jo said and sat down on the opposite side of Dean, next to Charlie who only managed a smile flustered smile in return. Victor and Benny slid down next to Dean and her, while Jo focused on Charlie's short red curls.

"Nice Natasha Romanoff hair," she complimented with a wink, making Charlie blush even more.

"Thanks," she mumbled shyly. "Nice Scarlett Johanson everything."

Her eyes went wide, making Castiel think she hadn't meant to say it out loud, but Jo laughed and bumped her shoulder against Charlie's.

"Thanks, Red," she said. "You're making me blush all over."

"Hey, no flirting," Dean scolded jokingly. "I'd like to at least swallow my meal before you guys start making out."

Jo stuck a tounge at him while Charlie's blush got about as red as her hair. Castiel felt equal parts happy and worried for her. He hoped she wouldn't actually faint.

"So, what made you graze us with your presence, oh, saint Winchester," Anna grinned teasingly at Dean.

"Don't encourage his ego, please," Castiel felt no shame in saying darkly. Dean, who was grinning with a mouthful of food, looked at Castiel with wide eyes.

"I'm getting the feeling you don't like me very much," he mumbled around the half chewed sandwich in his mouth.

"And I'm getting the feeling you have no table manners. Would it kill you to swallow?" Castiel made a face at him, making Dean's friends laugh.

"I like you, man," said Victor. "Hey, aren't you that feminist guy from from last year?"

"I'm that feminist guy from every year. That's how beliefs work," Castiel replied dryly. "But if you're referring to the fact that I got detention for my feminist bliefs in English last year, then you are correct."

"Damn," Benny chuckled and looked at Dean. "And I thought your little brother was sassy."

Dean laughed.

"True, Sammy's got nothing on you," he said, mouth foodless this time. He reached across the table and stole a fry from Jo's plate.

"Hey, get your own!" Jo exclaimed and tried to swat his hand away, but she was too late. Castiel didn't mind the entire exchange, though. Something on Dean's wrist, where his flannel shirt rode up when he reached for the fries, caught his eye. It could either be a strangely placed shadow, or it could be a bruise. He couldn't get a very good look, though, as Dean fixed his sleeve as soon and as subtly as possible.

How could he get a bruise on a wrist? Sure, he was a quarterback on the school team, so he was jumping around the feild all day long and that barbaric sport ought to leave a bruise somewhere, but a _wrist_?

And Castiel thought he was a klutz.

He focused on the meal, deciding to forget about what he saw. He was thinking about Dean too much again, anyways. It was probably nothing to be concerned about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a horrible human being. I should have been studying about four different things. Don't look up to me, kids.
> 
> (I hope you still enjoy the chapter, though!)

"Mister Johnson, I need to use the bathroom."

Castiel didn't have to raise his head from his biology notes to know whose voice it was. Even if he didn't recognize the voice, he would be able to recognize the question.

"Make it quick, mister Winchester," their biology teacher said, giving Dean his hall pass. A few quick steps and a slam of the door later, Dean was gone.

He didn't get the point of it, to be honest. It wasn't like he couldn't just wait another few minutes until the end of the class. Even if that wasn't possible, he went to the bathroom the previous period, arts, as well.

 _Either do something about that bladder or tell your possible hook up to keep it in her pants_ , he thought bitterly.  _Or his,_ he corrected himself, although it was still weird to have the knowledge about Dean's sexuality. Things like that were always something private for Cas and he didn't just announce them to strangers in the middle of cafeteria. Not that it would make a difference for Cas – the perks of being Anna's brother were that he was always involved in the latest gossip, one way or another.

Mr Johnson continued the lesson – something about mitosis, Castiel guessed, seeing as it was the last thing he had been talking about before Dean interrupted him. He couldn't bring himself to listen anymore. Not when the neverending question of whether Dean is a bottom or a top was going through his mind.

 _He could definitely pass for a ..._ Castiel stopped himself. What in God's name even made him want to think about _that_?

A loud bell announced the end of the period and Castiel gathered his stuff as quickly as possible, so that he could leave the classroom and escape the idiotic thoughts. He headed down to the library where he and Charlie usually spent their free period on Tuesdays.

Charlie was already waiting for him with a giant grin on her face.

"Guess who's got a date with the hottest girl in school?"

"You?" Castiel laughed and watched his best friend jump up and down in her seat as he sat down next to her.

"Me!" Charlie squealed.

"With who?" Castiel asked, excited for her.

"As I said, the hottest girl in school," Charlie said and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it to Castiel and grinned widely as Castiel read the note.

 

_Hey, Red_

_Wanna go out sometime?_

_Tell me after class ;)_

_-Jo_

 

"That is so middle school," Castiel laughed.

"Shut up, it's not!" Charlie defended the note, taking it back in her hands. "It's adorable and you're just jealous because you are now the only single gay person in the school."

"I know," Castiel chuckled. "I'm happy for you."

"Me too." Charlie smiled tenderly for a moment, and then she continued her usual chatter. "I mean, I didn't even know she was gay! I'm so happy!"

"And I'm happy for you," Castiel smiled and leaned down to retrieve his notebooks. When he straightened up, however, his head almost collided with a broad shoulder. He caught the smell of an intoxicating cologne and leather before he moved away and found none other than Dean Winchester leaning in between him and Charlie, reading the note still in Charlie's hands.

"Ohoho, that's so middle school," he commented with a wide grin. "But I'm glad Jo finally did something. She's been crushing on you for _ages_."

Castiel tried very hard to ignore him. But that cologne was addictive. He hated Dean a little more for it.

"Really?" Charlie squeaked and stared at the note with wide eye, like it held a whole new meaning all of a sudden.

"I've been listening to her gush about her own Natasha Romanoff ever since you got that new hair cut last year," Dean said and fucking _finally_ moved away from them. Castiel's nostrils were grateful. "It nearly drove me insane because she never believed me that you could be into her. Turns out I was right, huh? I have to go congratulate her now. See you later!"

"Natasha Romanoff! Castiel, do you know what that means?" Charlie asked hitting Castiel's arm excitedly.

"That there _are_ more Avengers geeks out there?" Castiel guessed dryly, his entire brain still irritated from Dean's sudden appearance.

"It means someone will finally understand my references. You Novaks are awful," Charlie replied, but she couldn't hide the cheerful tone underneath the bitter teasing. "Oh my god, I'm going on a date with Jo Harvelle tomorrow!"

There was a pause as Charlie's smile suddenly faded away.

"Oh no, we're going on a date tomorrow! Why did I agree on going with her tomorrow?!"

"What's wrong with tomorrow?" Castiel asked. As far as he knew, Friday nights usually meant Harry Potter marathons and eating cookies for Charlie.

"Well, aside for the fact that it's _tomorrow_?" Charlie started freaking out. "As is a little more than 24 hours! What will I wear? I mean, I have that cute green and black plaid that kind of brings out my eyes, but ..."

Castiel huffed out a laugh.

"You worry too much," he said. "I'm sure Jo will love anything you wear. You're making this whole thing a bigger deal than it actually is. Just like with the Hobbit movie ..."

"Castiel Novak, you take that back!" Charlie gasped. "You don't get to insult my precious Bilbo! And yes, it is a big deal. Not that you would know – when was the last time you went on a date again?"

"Never," Castiel stated proudly. "Because most guys in this school are asses."

"Well, you can be sure I'll be there laughing at you and singing 'I told you so' when you'll be freaking out because of a date."

"Never gonna happen."

"Oh, yes it will."

 

* * *

 

 

"Adler?"

"Here."

"Dickens?"

"Here."

"Fitzgerald?"

"Yuppy doo!"

"Get serious, boy. Henriksen?"

"Here."

"Lafitte?"

"Over here, coach."

"Novak?"

"Here."

"Tran?"

"Here."

"And Winchester."

Boby Singer looked at the row of boys in front of him and frowned at the obvious absence of one.

"Late," he muttered to himself as he wrote the note down. "Again."

"Right here, coach!" Dean yelled as he jogged towards them from across the field with his usual cocky smile. He was wearing dark sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, which Castiel supposed was reasonable due to the cloudy weather. "Sorry, I had a big ass taco for lunch and it didn't exactly agree with me."

 _32_ , Castiel counted as the other boys chuckled.  _He used that excuse exactly 32 times in this school year._

Coach Singer mumbled something under his breath and added another note on his board.

"Okay, you lazy butts," he said as he finally looked up again. It was obvious he was battling not to use any more explicit curse words. Not after Kevin Tran's mother stormed into the school, furiously demanding a new coach that wouldn't teach her son any new curse words – they were distracting his education, apparently. "You're gonna become acquainted with the running field today."

Most boys groaned.

"I hear that sound again and you'll get yourselves an extra lap," Singer threatened. "You know the drill. Run at your own paceand try not to collapse."

Three laps to warm up and then a round of five laps and after a short pause a lap round of another five. Coach Singer didn't joke around when it came to sports and most of the boys in his class weren't completely useless, he showed little to no mercy. Castiel didn't mind, though. He enjoyed running. It was relaxing to him in some way – at least after he managed to go ahead of his complaining classmates.

Everyone strached their muscles and started running, with Castiel getting ahead of them quickly. He was just starting to enjoy the silence without complaints as sped up after the warm up laps. He started working through the second lap of the first five, when he heard a pair of legs catching up with him.

"Heya, Cas," a familiar voice voice greeted him and Castiel didn't even need to look to the side to imagine the infamous grin of Dean Winchester.

"Get lost, Winchester," he huffed, looking forward. No way was he letting him ruin one period he didn't need to listen him.

"Oh, come on," Dean groaned, but his pace neither slowed down nor sped up. "Would it kill you to call me Dean?"

Castiel shot him a quick glare.

"Get lost, _Dean_ ," he snapped again, hoping Dean would take a hint.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Dean grinned. Castiel rolled his eyes and sped up slightly, only to find Dean do the same. "Don't be like that, Cas, I'm just wondering if you'd like to race with me? None of the other guys seem to be up for _running_ , let alone racing."

"Not really in the mood."

"Shame," Dean shrugged and continued running alongside of him.

"I thought I told you to leave," Castiel reminded him with another sideways glare.

"Yeah, but you know what?" Dean smiled. "I'm actually enjoying all of this silence and calm ..."

"You're not leaving until I agree, are you?"

"Not a chance."

Castiel sighed.

"Okay," Dean's wide grin was back. "Prepare to eat dust, motherfuckeeeeeeer!"

And he was off. _Real mature_ , Castiel thought and briefly considered not chasing after him, but the opportunity to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face was too tempting. So he sped up as well and and caught up with Dean soon after. Each was trying to outrun the other for two entire laps, and even their classmates  cheered them on as they passed them just before the last lap. They had been getting closer to the finish line and that was when Castiel used up the last remaining energy and finally got ahead of Dean for a foot or so.

Both of them collapsed on the grass by the running field, both breathing heavily as their classmates cheered for them.

"Holy shit, dude," Dean panted. "That was ... what the hell?"

"I should have informed you before," Castiel grinned between heavy pants. "I'm on the school running team."

Dean let out a surprised laugh, which sounded much more like a stragnled gasp than an actual sound of laughter, and sropped his head against the grass.

"And a damn good one," coach SInger commented from nearby. "He got you for two whole seconds, Winchester. I've seen you score touchdowns better than that."

"Sorry, coach," Dean grinned. "There was this incredible ass that that suddenly came to view and distracted me."

"Keep telling yourself that," coach said and walked away. Castiel rolled his eyes and raised himself to his elbows to look at their female classmates who were playing soccer in the middle of the field. Hannah and Anna were there as well, waving at him excitedly.

"If that ass belonged to one of my sisters, you can say goodbye to your balls."

"What?" Dean looked up as well and it seemed like he only now noticed the twins. He chuckled and leaned back, looking up at Castiel. "No, dude, it was yours!"

He said that as if he was stating something as obvious as the grass being green. Castiel looked at him with wide eyes and needed a few moments to process everything.

_Bisexual. Right._

"Well, I'm flattered my ass granted me a victory," he said and strated to stand up. He was not blushing becuase of the compliment. He wasn't. He was simply hot because he just ran five laps. Dean Winchester _did not_ make Castiel Novak blush.

Except maybe he did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for the long wait! I am a despicable human being and probably the queen of procrastinating, so yeah – sorry. I hope I will redeem myself to you with this chapter, I hope ...
> 
> Enjoy!!

Despite the childishness of it, Castiel felt more than a little proud to win that little race between him and Dean. You earn some kind of respect when you beat the quarterback in something and while he wasn’t a fan of attention, it was satisfying.

Because of the impressive running performance coach Singer didn’t push them into anything and let them both hit the showers and have the rest of the period off. Dean was ecstatic about that for some reason Castiel didn’t want to think about. Maybe he had another hot date. Although maybe a toilet hook-up might be a better name for it. He practically ran towards the changing rooms, even though Castiel didn’t know where he found the energy. Even if he was a on the running team, he preferred not to waste the already wasted energy from racing.

His theory about Dean having a toilet hook-up seemed to be wrong, however. As soon as he got to the changing rooms, Dean was sitting on one of the benches, seemingly waiting for him.

“Wanna hit the showers first?” he asked somewhat hopefully. Castiel squinted at him.

”Why?” he asked and then remembered his own sexuality. “Are you afraid I’ll pop a boner if I see you naked? Because, on the contrary of the popular belief, you are not _that_ handsome.”

“But I am handsome, right?” Dean grinned and stood up, making Cas blush despite his refusal to be fazed by him. “Besides, it’s not you I’m worried about. You’re one hot piece of ass.”

He winked as he walked past Castiel, who was mentally chastising his face for burning hot at the comment. _Dean Winchester does not have an effect on me, Dean Winchester does not have an effect on me_ , he repeated to himself and turned around to respond with a snarky remark – one he hadn’t yet come up with – when Dean cut him off.

“I need to drink a gallon of water before I can function properly. You run like hell,” he said and retrieved a water bottle from his locker. He huffed and took his soap (some Adidas crap for men that his cousin Gabriel bought for him with the assurance it smelt amazing – it didn’t), a towel and his spare clothes from his own locker and walked towards the shower room.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he added in a voice he hoped was at least a little dry and not at all a mumbled mess of embarrassment.

“It was meant that way!” Dean called after him, but Cas ignored him and the sudden change in his voice. He especially chose not to think the way he suddenly sounded unsure and maybe even a little hurt. By the time he hung up the towel and turned on one of the showers all thoughts of Dean entirely escaped his mind.

Escaped his mind enough to start humming his favorite song quietly under his breath as he quickly washed the sweat off of his body. By the time he got to the chorus, another voice joined his own.

“I gotta ramble on!” Dean’s voice boomed over the running water. Castiel abruptly stopped humming, his face about as red as a tomato. “And now’s the– hey, why’d you stop?”

Castiel quickly finished showering and dried his skin before dressing up completely. How dare Dean Winchester embarrass him that way? Couldn’t he just ignore him like a normal person would when he heard him? No. It was just another reason why he thought Dean Winchester was an asshole.

He heard steps heading his way just as he gathered up his stuff, but thought nothing of them. Dean was probably just getting impatient. He dismissed him and left the shower room, only to almost collide with a very naked Dean Winchester, who entered the showers with only a towel wrapped around his hips.

Both boys jumped apart, startled by each other's sudden appearance. Dean even dropped his soap, which was almost followed by his towel, but he managed to catch it before it revealed more than it should. He pulled it up then, using the length of it to cover his torso as well as his genitals.

“I thought you left!” Dean exclaimed, clearly freaked out by seeing the dark haired boy in the showers.

“And I thought you were gonna wait until I get out!” Cas yelled back as he pointedly tried to look anywhere else than Dean’s naked legs and hips. No matter how much he disliked him, naked skin remained too attractive for his hormonal mind.

“Who dresses up in the shower?” Dean asked when he finally composed himself a little.

“I do,” Castiel said. “Whenever there aren’t a lot of people in the shower to wet my clothes.”

Dean wanted to say something, possibly comment on Castiel’s decisions regarding the situation they found themselves in, but he froze as soon as Castiel finally looked down the body that wasn’t covered with the towels and saw – bruises.

Miles and miles of skin colored purple and blue.

Cas felt like hugging him and taking care of him just because of how many there were – and he didn’t even like the guy!

“Where ...” He gulped. “Where did you get those?”

Dean looked down at himself and shifted his weight from one leg to another self-consciously. He laughed nervously as he tried to cover himself even more.

“I, uh ... Football practice. Most of them are from football practice,” he stammered slightly. “I fell and a bunch of guys fell over me and ... Well, you can imagine.”

Castiel nodded slowly, eyeing Dean’s blue left side and forearms.

“And the others?” he asked cautiously, the word _mostly_ echoing in his mind. Dean looked to the floor momentarily before grinning sheepishly at him.

“You know Ronda Hurley? That was some kinky ride, I tell you,” he said, making Cas grimace. “I wasn’t able to sit straight for a week – I can show you my ass ...”

“ _No_ , thank you,” Castiel cut him off, looking away from the bruises. “I’m just gonna ... go now.”

“Yeah, and I’ll ...”

”Shower. Yup, got it,” Castiel said and hurried past Dean. He was already out of the shower room and heading towards his locker, when Dean called his name again.

“Hey, Cas!” He turned around, half expecting Dean to ask him not to talk about his bruises for a reason he didn’t want to look that much into.

Dean smiled at him. “Nice music taste. That’s my favorite song.”

For another reason Cas couldn’t define, nor did he want to, he smiled back. “Thanks. Mine too.”

* * *

 

 

“And then I left,” Castiel finished the story. He was lying on Hannah’s bed and staring at the ceiling, with Hannah lying on his left and Anna on his right, staring upwards with him.

It was a position they grew accustomed to as kids when Castiel practiced his reading by reading his younger sisters a goodnight story, and after they grew up they used it to discuss important things. If Charlie was with them, like she often was since she and Cas became best friends, she liked to lie across the bed and accept the destiny of being the siblings’s foot pillow. Anna’s feet usually didn’t even reach her, seeing as she was smaller than her siblings, but the sentiment was still there and Charlie turned so Cas and Hannah rested their feet on her stomach and legs.

“That’s nice,” Hannah pondered. “At least you know you are capable of holding a civil conversation with him.”

Castiel’s flickered towards her. “I still don’t like him,” he said, looking back at the green-colored wall above him.

“But you are allowed to be worried about him,” Anna countered. “I think it’s kind of cute. The only gay boy and the only bisexual boy bond over an awkward encounter in the shower.”

“Shut up,” Castiel said, slightly pushing her towards the edge of the bed as she giggled. “We didn’t _bond_ or anything. He embarrassed me and I saw him almost naked. I’d say it was work of justice.”

“Come on,” Anna raised herself on the elbow to look at her brother. “Please tell me you didn’t waste the chance and checked him out? I’d absolutely _die_ if I were in your position!”

“I’m sorry, I forgot my phone in my locker. I forgot I needed to take pictures for you.” Anna hit Cas playfully as he laughed at her blushing face. “But no, I didn’t take up the trend of shamelessly checking out people. Despite the fact I don’t like him, I still have some respect.”

“Ugh, you are a disgrace to this family,” Anna sighed dramatically and flopped back down on the bed. “That’s why you’re still a virgin.”

“Don’t talk like you aren’t,” Hannah interjected, making Castiel laugh out loud and making Anna throwing a stuffed tiger – one of the many stuffed animals that still surrounded Hannah’s pillow – at her.

“Hey!” Hannah cried in protest as the toy hit the floor. She stretched down to retrieve it and hugged it close to her chest. “Don’t throw Larry!”

Anna laughed. “Sorry, Larry,” she apologized jokingly. Hannah raised a tiger off her chest and used her fingers to move it’s paw from it’s mouth towards her sister as if it sent her a kiss.

“Well, I think you’re forgiven,” Castiel chuckled at his sisters’ antics. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he retrieved it, looking at the name of the person that sent him a text. “It’s Charlie.”

“Taking time from choosing her date outfit, I see,” Anna giggled.

“Why is she picking it out now?” Cas asked. “Isn’t the big date tomorrow?”

“To be prepared,” the sisters answered in unison.

“Even I know that and I’ve never been on a date yet,” Hannah rolled her eyes.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” Anna said. “Zeke is really into you, you know.”

“Who’s really into her?” Castiel perked up immediately, protective features rearranging his face.

“It’s some guy from our art class who is simply interested in the animal shelter I volunteer in,” Hannah explained and raised her head to glare at Anna. “And he’s _not_ interested in me!”

“Honey, when a guy is willing to volunteer in giving a bath to those rowdy dogs, he’s interested,” Anna said as Castiel’s phone buzzed with another text.

_Charlie: will this be okay?_

Under the caption was a picture of her wearing a green, brown and black and plaid shirt over a grey t-shirt with a Star Wars logo, and dark blue jeans.

“That looks cute,” Hannah commented. Castiel hummed in agreement and opened the second message.

_Charlie: I’m taking your silence as a sign of rejection. What about this?_

There was another picture of Charlie wearing the same jeans and over shirt, only with a black shirt instead of the Star Wars one.

“Better,” the sisters agreed and Castiel typed the message back.

_Castiel: Better. Sorry, we were kind of busy discussing Hannah’s love life._

The reply was immediate.

_Charlie: Hannah has a love life?! Brb, coming over :D_

“Thanks, Cas,” Hannah said and hit him. Her brother grinned at her.

“All for the greater good, Hannah. At least you have a love life,” he said. The three of them waited, bantering about unimportant stuff until they heard Charlie’s excited stomping up the stairs. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Make room, bitches!” she exclaimed as she ran towards the bed. The Novaks moved their legs and let her lie down. “So, Hannah, care to explain?”

“Cas saw Dean Winchester naked!” Hannah quickly changed the topic. Charlie gasped and sat up.

“You saw Dean naked?! Details, Novak!” she urged him as she lied back down and poked at his feet resting on her stomach.

“I didn’t see Dean naked,” Cas rolled his eyes. “He was wearing a towel and we almost collided as I was about to leave and he was about to enter the shower room.”

“Still, it’s something. Garth says he never showers until after everyone leaves. For a guy that’s whoring around that much he sure likes his privacy,” Charlie said while she began her own staring match with the ceiling.

Cas remained quiet in thought. Now that he looked back, Dean really never showered with the rest of the guys. But he usually fooled around, farting with his armpit and having towel-whipping duels and doing everything else he and his friends thought was hilarious, so Castiel always thought it was his own damn fault if he got into the shower last. It usually resulted in him being late for the next class, as he always was, so no. Cas never thought it was unusual.

“Maybe it’s because of the bruises,” Hannah wondered out loud. Her voice reminded Castiel he should pay attention to the conversation again, which he did gladly. Just the memory of every stupid thing Dean had done in the locker rooms in this school year reminded Cas of how much he noticed the only boy he wanted to ignore.

“Bruises?” Charlie asked worriedly. “What bruises?”

“I saw several bruises on his _almost_ naked body,” Castiel clarified with a glare at Hannah. “The towel covered most of his torso, but I saw them on his arms and sides. He said it was partly from his football practice and partly from crazy sex with someone called Ronda Hurley.”

“Eh, I doubt it was Ronda,” Charlie waved her hand towards the ceiling dismissively. “She just has this weird panty kink. Gets off on people wearing her panties. I don’t think she could be into BDSM or something. Although, Dean would totally be a sub in that scenario.”

And so Castiel’s mind produced a picture of Dean wearing nothing but a blindfold and tied to a bed. He tried to make it go away, since it wasn’t at all healthy to be so turned on by someone you hated in a position that should not have been as arousing to him as it was. Instead of going away, however, the picture became all the more vivid when Cas made a mistake of imagining himself over Dean’s shivering body, teasing Dean without even touching ...

“Cas?” Charlie’s voice brought him back to reality before he even realized he lost himself in a very unwelcome daydream.

“Sorry, lost in thought,” he apologized lamely. “What is it?”

“I was wondering how much you saw,” Charlie asked, raising herself to her elbows. She was grinning at him like she knew all of his dirty secrets. Knowing her, she probably did. Cas was thankful that it seemed like she was the only one.

“He was holding a towel in front of himself, so I saw everything except his stomach, genitals and thighs,” he told her, hoping he didn’t flush so much that she could see it from the other end of the bed. “Well, that was after he almost dropped his towel. If you count him walking in with a towel around his hips, I saw practically everything but the genitals.”

“God, can’t you be a normal brother and just say you saw everything but his cock?” Anna rolled her eyes. “Which is such a shame, by the way.”

“Would you stop lusting after him, please?” Castiel asked. “He’s not as good as you think he is.”

“Geez, you see his abs once and you get all possessive,” Anna teased, for which she earned a murderous glare.

“Please stop pretending I have a crush on him” he said dryly. “He’s still an asshole, with or without clothes.”

“And you’re a dick. You’d fit perfectly together,” Anna giggled. Charlie and Hannah laughed at the comment and even Castiel chuckled while he playfully tried to push all of them off the bed at the same time. There was laughing, screaming and fighting for their place on the bed, until the laughter won over and everyone could only lie on the bed, bodis shaking with giggles.

“But seriously, though,” Charlie said after the laughter finally died out and everyone was staring at the ceiling again. “This is all becoming some giant romantic comedy. You’ll see, you’re gonna fall for him sooner or later, and he’ll fall for you and I’m gonna be grinning in a priest uniform when I’m gonna tell you that you may now kiss the groom.”

“That will not happen.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Woohoo!! Not for long, though, because I'm gonna be pretty busy with school again very soon (as in, tomorrow) and I have the cutest prompt for Dean/Cas Secret Santa Exchange that I need to work on (and I can't wait to do it)!
> 
> So here you go, my lovelies, enjoy it as much as possible :D I'm actually pretty satisfied with this chapter, especially the last part ... But don't mind me, just sit back and enjoy the ride!

The following week was a week of changes, Cas decided. And he blamed Charlie for it from the very beginning.

Monday was a chaos, to say the least. The second Jo and Charlie walked in with joint hands the entire school went uproar with whispers and rumors and widened looks. A few people grimaced at them and a few boys cheered them on to kiss, and they all received a murderous glare from either Cas or Dean, who were walking behind the new couple.

"You think we should hold hands, too?" Dean's sudden question nearly punched the air out of Cas' lungs. He looked up at him wide eyed.

"What?" he asked, scandalized witht he preposition. Dean only shrugged and chuckled at the reaction.

"You know, just to spite the haters more," he said with a wink. Cas squinted at him and studied the slight blush on Dean's cheeks. He was half expecting Dean to burst out with a "HA! I can't believe you fell for that, you fag!" but it never came.

"No, thank you."

"Alright." Dean stuffed his hands inside his pockets and they continued walking. "Hey, by the way, about Thursday ..."

"Let's not mention it. Ever," Cas interrupted him. "I'm already trying to forget."

"Yeah, yeah," Dean nodded. "Me too. Yeah."

Cas thought Dean's company would have ended when he parted from them to get to class. No such luck, though, because another thing that happened on Monday was that Dean and Jo's entire clique somehow started to count Cas and his sisters as a part of their group as soon as Jo announced her new relationship with Charlie. That meant Meg already worked on corrupting Cas in biology, and as far as the lunch break went, Castiel had already said goodbye to peaceful, Dean-less breaks ever since Thursday, when the popular group randomly decided Castiel, Charlie, Anna and Hannah were worthy of their time. So when Cas was standing in line for lunch with Anna, he shouldn't have even been surprised when Dean and Victor cut in line right behind them.

"You don't mind, do ya?" he heard Victor ask the people behind them as an arm was slung over his shoulders, the now familiar smell of leather and cologne filling Castiel's nose.

He hated how much he liked it.

"Hey, long time no see, huh?" Dean grinned down at him, making Cas roll his eyes. "Aw, come on. Not even a 'hello, Dean'?"

He lowered his voice a great deal to immitate Castiel's. The other boy glared up at him and then pushed his arm off of his shoulders.

"Has no one ever taught you about personal space?" he asked. Dean shrugged.

"We'll work on it, but I'll take it for now," he commented before turning to Hannah who was watching the exchange with amusement, and grinned. "Hello, Hannah, looking as lovely as ever."

Castiel's sister giggled.

"Thank you," she said with a soft smile still on her face. It was a permanent feature of hers, which was endearing to anyone who has ever met her. She picked up a sandwich and a juicebox when she finally got to the food. "And don't mind Cas, he's just grumpy before his daily burger."

"Ah, a man after my own heart, I see," Dean grinned at Castiel. "You should come over sometime, I make a mean burger. Much better than the ones here, anyways."

"No, thanks," Castiel declined, glaring as Hannah smiled widely at Dean's suggestion. It was slightly uncomfortable, how friendly Dean suddenly was with him. It made him think Dean maybe wasn't that bad after all.

"Well, hello, cheerleading squad," Dean mumbled as Lisa Braeden and Cassie Robinson walked past them, staring at their asses as if the ends of their digestive systems held the answers to the universe.

_Or maybe he is still an ass. Figures._

 

* * *

 

 

When Becky and Garth were practically shoved out of the way by Dean and Benny so that they could sit down next to him in art, Castiel officially lost all hope of not being associated with Dean's group of friends. The thought alone left a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Heya, Cas," Benny greeted him with one of his trademark cool smirks. "Mind if we join?"

"I don't suppose I actually have a say in it," Cas said as he eyed them suspiciously.

"Not anymore," Dean grinned as he put up his unfinished painting. "Now that Jo and Charlie sealed the deal, we're practically family."

So instead of suffering through Dean Winchester's suffocating ego from afar Cas was going to witness it from an uncomfortably close proximity? Daily?

"Perfect," he muttered under his breath. He started mixing the bright blue colors on his palette to continue his painting, when he glanced at Dean's half-finished masterpiece.

His eyes widened comically.

Since he was usually sat in the other corner of the classroom than Dean, he never actually knew what his art project looked like. Their instruction was to paint a creature of choice while using different shades of a single color, and what Dean had managed to create with various shades of mostly black and darker shades of brown was ... astonishing.

The creature on the platform wasn't a monster with animalistic features or a deformed human in a way to be percieved as non-human, as most of their classmates, right along with Cas, had decided on painting. It was merely a dark sillhuette of a man. Broad shoulders, a threatening figure and tight fists were his main atributes. He looked like a giant in an oval shape around him that started to look more and more like an eye of an animal, judging by the few outlines Dean sketched out with a lighter brown.

Cas, mesmerized with the meaningful message of the yet unfinished painting, must have been staring because Dean's velvet voice broke him out of something akin to a transe.

"I'm getting the feeling there's either a compliment or a critique coming." Castiel turned to him and saw Dean Winchester in all his nervous glory, uncharacteristically biting his lip and searching for signs of approval on Cas' face. He released his lip from the death grip of his teeth – a movement Castiel's traitrous eyes followed against his permission – and huffed out a nervous laugh. "Just, if you're gonna give me shit, make it quick? I really don't need you repeating everything the teacher told me already."

"It's amazing," Castiel breathed out before he could stop himself. He looked at the painting again. "I ... didn't know you had it in you."

"Did you think I was just a jock trying to pass an easy class, despite not having any actual talent?" Dean huffed out a laugh.

"There's no shame in that, brother," Benny piped in, working on his mediocre female vampire. The many shades of red might not have seemed like a bad idea, even if she ended up having a practically pink skin, bright red hair and matching teeth.

"I think an artistic talent, however different, can be found in anyone," Cas said, drawing a long curvy stripe of baby blue to emphasize his angel's wings. He dared to glance at Dean's painting again. "I am surprised to see a painting of yours carrying such a message, though."

Dean raised his eyebrows, but his grin remained on his face.

"You callin' me stupid, Cas?" 

"Not at all," Castiel denied it, although until the moment he saw Dean's work of art, he had. "Just more educated than I assumed."

"I used the word sophisticated," Benny mumbled, not looking up from his unintentionally abstract masterpiece.

"Congratulations."

Cas' dry comment caused Dean to chuckle.

"Yeah, well, the teacher said it wasn't exactly what she meant with a creature, so that doesn't really give me a one-way ticket to a good grade," Dean shrugged. "I like it, though."

"Me too," Cas nodded, dipping his paintbrush in his blue paint. He cast a quick glance at Dean's painting again, and then at the artist, finding that he was staring at Castiel already. The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing," Dean shrugged, looking away as soon as Cas asked the question. He decided to look at Castiel's painting instead. "Like your painting, too. Matches your eyes. And your name."

Castiel was not prepared for that comment.

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, Castiel is the angel of Thursday, right?" Dean chuckled. "My mum was very religious before she dies. Because I was born on Thursday, she used to tell me that angel Castiel would look over me."

"That's correct," Castiel mumbled, feeling the beginnings of a smile forming on his lips. "But I'm fairly certain you deserve every single detention you get into, so don't think I'm gonna be saving you out of any of them."

Dean laughed.

"Damn, I was counting on that," he joked and winked. "I guess maybe your angel could at least save my poor little dog? This guy seems like a douche."

He gestured to his painting slightly and grinned, obviously proud of his own joke.

"I suppose so," Cas smiled. There was no way of knowing when the moment the distance he tried to keep away from Dean Winchester suddenly became much shorter than before. Or why he didn't mind it one bit. "Although I'd rather none of these pieces of art came to life. I'm fairly certain Benny's would give me nightmares."

Benny looked up at the mention of his name and frowned at Castiel.

"Ya know," he drawled, "I liked you much better when you snarked at Dean rather than flirted with him. Either way, keep me out of it."

Both Cas and Dean blushed crimison at Benny's comment, not that Benny himself was aware of it as he returned to his painting.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the class.


End file.
